“Ornaments should be designed to reflect our theme ‘California Shines’ by showing how the rich cultural and ecological diversity of this state make it shine,” says the tree’s official website, which was funded by corporate sponsors.
When Death Feels Like A Good Option
It wasn’t until after I seriously contemplated suicide that I was ready to handle a $30 million check.
I closed the doors of my first start-up in the summer of 2001. I was throughly broke, depressed, and feeling the burden of losing hundreds of thousands of dollars of other people’s money. Loneliness, darkness, hopelessness… those words don’t capture the feeling of the profound self-doubt that sets in after a failure. Loneliness. Darkness. Hopelessness. Those words describe the environment of depression. Self-doubt? That shakes you to the core and starts a fracture in your identity that makes you question if you should even exist anymore.
Then, a few short months after closing up my dreams, the planes hit the Twin Towers. I was 23-years-old, just a year older than the late Ilya Zhitomirskiy of Diaspora. It started a descent down to a depth I never knew could exist. Whatever it was, it was over. I knew things would get better. It probably would get better, but I just lost the energy and will to try. Until that point, my life had been a series of struggles and successes. Life was hard, but if you worked hard, if you suffered, if you lived for your dreams, it wasn’t supposed to end this way. There were plenty of examples of winners. People were getting funding, going public, creating change. Was I not meant to be an entrepreneur? Will I never get to pursue my dreams again?
I spent a week in my room with the lights off and cut off from the world, thinking of the best way to exit this failure. Death was a good option — and it got better by the day.
I don’t remember why I left my room. The most meaningful act I performed on my long climb out was to leave that room. It was the best decision I made in my life. I left that room and I got back to my job managing a very dysfunctional Internet radio startup where I was the cause of the dysfunction. It was a actually a positive thing that I left that room to leave a really bad situation to go to a bad situation.
It wasn’t for several months that death no longer became an option, but leaving that room and dealing with reality was the best antidote to a make-belief world where life just wasn’t worth it. When I was fantasizing about death as the panacea, the harshness of reality actually helped — it presented me with problems that I could actually solve.
9 years after I left that room, I would call Brad Feld to invest $30 million in my odd-ball company. Before I picked up the phone, I thought long and hard about losing that money — every single penny of it. And I was OK with it. Failure is an option, and a real risk. Failure and risk something entrepreneurs understand well, and learn to manage. However, death isn’t an option, it’s an inevitability. And before I die, I want to take as many swings at the fence as I can.
For those of you who struggle with this, I’d encourage you to keep walking out that door everyday.
Ilya, I’m so sorry that we didn’t know. From a long line of entrepreneurs who suffered alone and quietly under our own self-doubt, I wish I could talk to you and tell you to bash the shit out of your own self-doubt, or just even slink away with your tail tucked between your legs — either way, the world would have let you take more swings at the fences.
Daniel's faith allowed him to withstand the many trials that were about to come about him, from being thrown into the Fiery Furnace (Chapter 3) to spending time in the Lion's den (Chapter 6). Would Daniel been able to withstand those trials without God's protection? The obvious answer is no as without being protected by an angel in the fiery furnace and without an angel closing the mouths of Lion's, he would have been eaten alive. 8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. 9 Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, 10 but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your[c] food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”
11 Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, 12 “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” 14 So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.
15 At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. 16 So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.
Daniel refused to defile his body with foods that had been sacrificed to false gods. Picture him sitting and eating his bowl of veggies with a tall glass of water among muscled men slurping on royal food, savory dishes that filled the air with mouth-watering fragrance. As men do when sharing fine food and drink, there would be boisterous camaraderie, a celebration of the senses. He stood alone in the conviction that his circumcised body was holy. This was not a secret impractical conviction but observable for all to see by how he lived—and how he ate.But under the New Covenant, didn’t Paul say that all foods are now clean to eat? Yes, we can enjoy all foods with a clear conscience. You see the connection here is not legalism; it goes deeper. I am sure you have learned by now that no form of legalism can tame the jaws of hunger—in fact it will only anger the beast within. Don’t make the mistake of misreading Daniel's intentions or you will miss the message. This was about love, not law. It was about how he saw himself and how he saw his God.I believe it goes beyond the nutrition of raw food. There is something in Daniel we all aspire to, a strength of character that comes from a clear sense of who he is. In an age of media-induced addictions, where we race from one emotional fix to another, resulting in escalating obesity, illness and loss of self, the maverick message, “Dare to be a Daniel” spells refreshing freedom. His strength to say no speaks to the real you suffocating under years of saying yes to the wrong things; to the real you that is wired in the image of God―creative, fiercely individualist, and full of life and passion.
The Daniel’s Fast is just one of the many types of fasts mentioned in the Bible. The fast described in this book is not EXACTLY the same as Daniel’s original fast. It is based on what Daniel requested to eat to avoid being defiled when Israel was besieged and taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. When studying the scriptures, we first recognize the King’s food was not compliant with God’s dietary law established with the Israelites. Daniel’s request to only eat “pulse” was to avoid breaking these laws- his intended purpose was to eat “kosher”. The Daniel’s Fast is a modified fast based on what Daniel avoided, not his intentions. Therefore, the Daniels fast is not simply a kosher diet (a diet following the Old Testament laws associated with food); it is a modified fast based on what Daniel requested to eat to avoid defilement. Daniel 1:8 says “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat nor with the wine he drank. Therefore, he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.” KJV He did not eat meat or drink wine. Therefore, on the Daniel’s fast there is NO meat or animal products.
In Daniel 1:12 Daniel asked for a ten day test in which they be given “pulse to eat and water to drink”. In simple terms, pulse is anything grown up from a seed. Barnes notes defines pulse as “what grows up from seeds-such, probably, as would be sown in a garden, or, as we would now express it, vegetable diet.”
Marriage rates in the US have hit an all-time low, as economic forces and social shifts have pushed couples to delay or avoid matrimony, according to an analysis of census data by the Pew Research Center.
Just 51 per cent of people over age 18 are married today, compared to 57 per cent in 2000 and 72 per cent in 1960, with trends pointing toward wedded couples becoming a social minority within a few years.
“Public attitudes about the institution of marriage are mixed,” the report said. “Nearly four-in-10 Americans say marriage is becoming obsolete,” yet most people who have never married say they would like to some day.
A sharp drop in marriages occurred between 2009 and 2010 when the US economy was in recession, with new nuptials declining 5 per cent. Young people, in particular, drove the rates down, as marriage rates fell 13 per cent among 18 to 24 year olds.
“This trend reflects the changing labour market that young adults face,” said Andrew Cherlin, a sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University. They “think that you shouldn’t get married until you’re positive that you can make a go of it financially.”
Outsourcing and automation of jobs in the manufacturing sector over the last several decades have contributed to the decline of marriages among those with no university education, Mr Cherlin said, with the recent recession and spike in unemployment making the working class even less likely to marry.
Declining job security and the erosion of health and pension plans – benefits that were previously the mark of a promising groom – have also made marriage less appealing.
University-educated people are still getting married, but not until much later, after they have finished school and invested in building their careers. High divorce rates among baby boomers also scared many of their children into skipping or postponing marriage, the Pew researchers said. The age of first marriage rose higher than ever in the last year to an average 26.5 years for women and 28.7 for men.
Instead, couples are living together and having children without getting married. Cohabitation, living alone and single parenthood have all grown more prevalent, the report said.
The trends are consistent in other countries as well.
“The United States is by no means the only nation where marriage has been losing ‘market share’ for the past half century,” the researchers said. “The same trend has taken hold in most other advanced post-industrial societies.”
Clair Brown, an economics and public policy professor at the University of California at Berkeley, said that these sociological trends are often beneficial for the economy. People who stay in school longer and wait to have children get better jobs and have more mature relationships, she said.
Many European countries have recognised that and granted the rights of the married to cohabiting couples, she said, adding that the US would benefit if it followed their lead.
“Let’s take Sweden. Everyone cohabitates in Sweden and the state doesn’t treat you any differently,” she said. “When will the US government catch up with the social norms?”
And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to fight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings, and scourging, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented,
of whom the world who was not worthy.
They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.
"Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearances be examined before you, and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king's delicacies; and as you see fit, so deal with your servants."
Boko Haram Threat
It’s about time Congress started paying more attention to terrorism in Nigeria.
- A screen grab made on October 21, 2010 in Kano from a video allegedly released by the Nigerian Islamist sect Boko Haram in northern Nigeria reportedly shows two alleged sect members standing against a background of a Google Earth shot of the northern Nigerian city of Bauchi with the triangular city prison visible. Boko Haram ‘spokesman’ claims responsibility for the attack on the UN building in Abuja that killed 18 on August 26, 2011.
This morning, Congressman Patrick Meehan (R–PA), chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, announced that the Nigerian Islamist sect Boko Haram poses an emerging threat to U.S. interests and the U.S. homeland.
The hearing coincided with the subcommittee’s release of a report outlining Boko Haram’s evolution, rapid escalation of attacks, and ties with al-Qaeda. The report recommends that the United States provide diplomatic, military, and intelligence support to Nigeria in addition to investigating whether Boko Haram should be listed as a foreign terrorist organization.
These steps are a welcome start. However, Congress should ensure that increased engagement with Nigeria as well as the resources the U.S. provides are used effectively and that the Nigerian government makes meaningful progress in addressing this threat.
The Nigerian government does not have a good track record in combating Boko Haram. In July 2009, a raid by Nigerian security forces in Bauchi state killed 700 people and resulted in the extrajudicial killing of Boko Haram’s founder, Ustz Mohammed Yusuf. Following the raid, Boko Haram vowed to regroup and escalate its attacks against the Nigerian state.
In the past year Boko Haram has waged frequent attacks against government forces and civilians across northern Nigeria and in the capital city of Abuja, committing its first international attack against U.N. headquarters last August.
Nigeria’s security forces have a history of unprofessional and brutal conduct. Civilians across the north often fear government soldiers as much as they fear Boko Haram. The Nigerian government has combined brutal tactics with prospective attempts to negotiate with the militants.
Last August, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan appointed seven government officials to explore various options in dealing with the organization. In September, the committee urged the government to engage in open talks with militants despite its bloody acts. Yet doing so would only grant Boko Haram legitimacy.
The Nigerian government has also failed to address the marginalization of Nigeria’s northern populations. Much of this is owed to the stark sectarian divisions within the country, as it is split between Christians residing in the south and Muslims in the north. As a Christian who is believed to have stolen last April’s presidential election by northerners, Jonathan has not addressed the challenges that northern populations face, including unemployment, lack of education, and widespread poverty.
The Nigerian government’s scattered approach to combating Boko Haram should concern the United States. While Boko Haram does not pose an immediate threat to the U.S. homeland, that doesn’t mean that it won’t in the future. The Nigerian government should take the threat that Boko Haram poses more seriously.
It was only a few weeks ago that Nigerian national security advisor General Owoeye Andrew Azazi criticized the United States for activating a security alert, as it was believed that Boko Haram posed an immediate threat to U.S. citizens. While the U.S. later withdrew the alert, the Nigerian government should not have questioned America’s duty to protect its citizens.
When exploring engagement with the Nigerian government as well as the distribution of assistance, the United States should make sure that Nigeria is a responsible partner. This will require the Nigerian government’s progress toward improved governance and addressing domestic concerns.
Posterity! you will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom! I hope you will make a good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven that I ever took half the pains to preserve it.
John Adams
RODIGAL -- the Proactive Discovery of Insider Threats Using Graph Analysis and Learning -- which has been built to scan IMs, texts and emails . . . and can read approximately a quarter billion of them a day.
Could the U.S. Government Start Reading Your Emails?
Cherie Anderson runs a travel company in southern California, and she’s convinced the federal government is reading her emails. But she’s all right with that.“I assume it's part of the Patriot Act and I really don't mind,” she says. “I figure I'm probably boring them to death.”It's likely Anderson is not alone in her concerns that the government may be monitoring what Americans say, write, and read. And now there may be even more to worry about: a newly revealed security research project called PRODIGAL -- the Proactive Discovery of Insider Threats Using Graph Analysis and Learning -- which has been built to scan IMs, texts and emails . . . and can read approximately a quarter billion of them a day.“Every time someone logs on or off, sends an email or text, touches a file or plugs in a USB key, these records are collected within the organization,” David Bader, a professor at the Georgia Tech School of Computational Science and Engineering and a principal investigator on the project, told FoxNews.com.PRODIGAL scans those records for behavior -- emails to unusual recipients, certain words cropping up, files transferred from unexpected servers -- that changes over time as an employee "goes rogue." The system was developed at Georgia Tech in conjunction with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Army's secretive research arm that works on everything from flying cars to robotic exoskeletons.Initially, PRODIGAL will scan only the communications of military volunteers and people who work in federal agencies. But the very existence of such a project is sure to unnerve citizens like Anderson. Is the government reading my emails? Are they already monitoring me?"Some people say it's one step further toward a police state," said Anthony Howard, a book author and security expert who has consulted for the Department of Homeland Security.But Bader and other experts are quick to dismiss the idea that PRODIGAL could be used to monitor everyone in America. The scans work only on internal systems, they say -- not across the entire Internet. And the experts say such a project is long overdue: by monitoring for "anomalies" and predicting extreme behavior, catastrophes can be prevented, such as a soldier in good mental health becoming homicidal or a government employee sharing key classified information.“Today, an analyst may receive tens of thousands of 'anomalies' per day, where an anomaly is an unexplained event,” Bader said.The new system is designed to aid analysts in processing those anomalies. And it's not alone.Bader equated the PRODIGAL system to Raytheon SureView, an internal scanning system that looks for suspicious activity and alerts federal agencies about possible threats. Another system is the Einstein project, which was developed after 9/11 and scans government employees for key words and links suspicious activity to National Security Agency databases.But PRODIGAL scans vastly more data than those systems: as much as a terabyte or more per day, what Georgia Tech described as "massive data sets."PRODIGAL is part of an existing DARPA security project called Anomaly Detection at Multiple Scales (ADAMS), which was announced earlier this year. Details about how ADAMS works are not widely known; Georgia Tech's recent announcement is one of the first reports to explain how these detection engines work.
According to Bader, PRODIGAL uses complex "graph-processing" algorithms to analyze threats and piece together a jigsaw puzzle of communications. The system then ranks the unusual activity before feeding the most suspicious threats to agents.Cyber-security expert Joseph Steinberg, CEO of Green Armor Solutions, said ADAMS is unique in that it scans through a massive stream of data. He says the new project, which will take about two years to develop and will cost $9 million, will be more effective at analyzing threats and determining if they are valid.But the issue is not the scanning technology itself; it’s how the information is interpreted -- and whether it ultimately helps at all, Howard told FoxNews.com."Since there is no real data publicly available to substantiate that any of this technology is preventing terrorist attacks or strengthening our borders from within, [we can't] really say definitively that this technology is doing any good," he said.The challenge, he said, is that criminals and terrorists often use multiple channels of communication, some encrypted -- and know how to avoid existing detection systems.Nevertheless, PRODIGAL’s ability to scan reams of data is clearly the next step in tracking unusual activity, and it’s guaranteed to raise a red flag for Anderson and others."Since people tend to be imperfect, the data captured can easily be mishandled. Where does it end?" Howard said.
